Beavers, Huskies advance to NCAA Super Regionals

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SUPER REGIONALS: No. 3 national seed and No. 1 regional seed OREGON STATE and No. 3 regional seed WASHINGTON advanced to the 2018 NCAA Tournament Super Regionals.

Oregon State looks to return to the College World Series for the second consecutive season and seventh time in program history when it hosts Minnesota this weekend in a three-game series. The Beavers’ quest continues on Friday at 2 p.m. PT, and each game will be broadcast on ESPN2.

UW will go for its first College World Series trip against face Cal State Fullerton in a best-of-three series that begins on Friday at 11 a.m. PT on ESPN2. The Huskies and Titans were both No. 3 seeds in their respective Regionals and are the only lower seeded teams to advance to Super Regionals.

WEEKLY RECAP: The Beavers hosted the Corvallis Regional for the second straight season and put on a dominating performance by besting Northwestern State, 9-3, on Friday and routing LSU, 14-1 and 12-0, to close out the weekend. Saturday’s win improved the Beavers’ home NCAA Regional record to 20-2 at Goss Stadium since 2005. Oregon State reached double-digit runs for the 15th time this season, which is the most in a single-season since 18 in 2007. The Beavers are now 15-0 when scoring 10 or more runs this year.

Washington advanced to the program’s first Super Regional in school history after winning the Conway Regional. The Huskies earned two wins over No. 2 seeded UConn, 7-1 and 9-6, and upset host and No. 15 national seed Coastal Carolina, 11-6. With its sweep through the Conway Regional, the Huskies have won 10 of their last 12 games.

National No. 2 seed STANFORD started with a 4-3 over Wright State and collected a 4-2 victory over Baylor on Sunday to improve its NCAA hosting record to 65-18 (.783).  However, the Cardinal exited in the postseason early after dropping two close games to Cal State Fullerton, 2-1, 5-2. Stanford finished the 2018 season with a 46-12 overall record for the most wins in a single-season since 2004 (46-14).

No. 2 seed UCLA defeated No. 3 seed Gonzaga, 6-5 and 10-4, in the Minneapolis Regional last week, but ultimately fell to top-seeded Minnesota, 3-2, in extra innings on Saturday and 13-8 on Sunday. UCLA concluded the 2018 season with a 38-21 overall record, posting 38 or more wins for the fifth time in the last eight years.

IN THE RANKINGS: In the last USA Today Coaches poll, three Pac-12 teams ranked among the best in the country with No. 2 Oregon State, No. 3 Stanford and No. 19 UCLA, while Washington received votes.

In the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) poll, Oregon State is No. 1 for the third-straight week after cruising through the Corvallis Regional. Teams ranked No. 1 this year have been Florida (preseason-March 5, April 2-16, May 14), Oregon State (March 12-26, May 21-present) and Stanford (April 23-May 7).  UW is ranked for the first time this season, earning the No. 17 spot, along with No. 18 Stanford and tied-No. 25 UCLA.

The Cardinal and Beavers both posted top-10 NCAA RPIs, finishing second and seventh, respectively, followed by UCLA at No. 26, ARIZONA at No. 46 and Washington at No. 63.

NUMBERS GAME: Oregon State is third nationally in batting average (.319) and on base percentage (4.16), sixth in slugging percentage (.488), eighth in doubles per game (2.28) and leads 13 Conference categories. UCLA ranks fifth in fielding percentage (.982), sixth in earned run average (3.08) and eighth in WHIP (1.21). Stanford ranks second in the country in earned run average (2.83) and hits allowed per nine innings (7.18), third in WHIP (1.14) and fourth in win-loss percentage (.793).

INDIVIDUAL STATS LEADERS: OSU’s Luke Heimlich continues to pace the nation with 15 wins this season, which has surpassed Scott Christman (1993), Andrew Moore (2013) and Jake Thompson (2017) for the most single-season wins in program history. Stanford’s Jack Little is third in saves (16). Pac-12 Player of the Year and Pac-12 Batting Champion Andrew Vaughn of CALIFORNIA ranks eighth in the country with a .402 batting average. Utah’s Dashawn Keirsey, Jr. earned Pac-12 Honorable Mention and ranks sixth in doubles per game (.46).

COLLEGE BASEBALL FOUNDATION FINALISTS: Oregon State’s Luke Heimlich appears on the National Pitcher of the Year Finalist list for the second straight season after collecting the Pac-12 Pitcher of the Year nod. Two Pac-12 baseball players have been named Brooks Wallace Award Finalists, OSU’s Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year Cadyn Greiner and Stanford’s Pac-12 First Team member Nico Hoerner. California’s Tanner Dodson is 1-of-3 John Olerud Two-Way Player of the Year Award Finalists.

GOLDEN SPIKES: California’s Vaughn has been named a finalist for the 2018 Golden Spikes Award. The sophomore ended his season with a .402 batting average, 23 home runs, 63 RBI and a .531 on-base percentage. Additionally, his .819 slugging percentage was the best single-season mark in Golden Bears’ history.

The Pac-12 tied for the most USA Baseball Golden Spikes Award Semifinalists of any Conference with four student-athletes selected, two from Oregon State and one from Arizona State and California: OSU’s Trevor Larnach, Nick Madrigal, Arizona State’s Torkelson, and California’s Vaughn.

STOPPER OF THE YEAR: Stanford’s sophomore Jack Little (RHP) is among five National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association Stopper of the Year Award finalists. Little pitched 45.1 innings this season, giving up only 26 hits and five runs.

ALL AMERICANS: Nine Pac-12 student-athletes appear on the Collegiate Baseball NCAA D1 All-American teams. Nine Pac-12 freshman appear on the Collegiate Baseball 2018 Freshman All-American list. ASU’s Torkelson landed Pac-12 Freshman of the Year honors and Collegiate Baseball’s Co-Freshman Player of the Year for ranking in the top-10 in multiple Conference offensive categories. He is also the current national home run leader with 25 this season, which doubled Barry Bonds’ 1983 ASU freshman record of 11.

Collegiate Baseball Newspaper All-Americans

First Team
Luke Heimlich, OSU - LHP
Gage Canning, ASU - OF

Second Team
Jack Little, STAN - RP
Andrew Vaughn, CAL - 1B
Spencer Torkelson, ASU - 1B
Chase Strumpf, UCLA - 2B
Trevor Larnach, OSU – OF

Third Team
Jake Mulholland, OSU - RP
Adley Rutschman, OSU – C

All-Freshman Team
Spencer Torkelson, ASU - 1B
Brendan Beck, STAN - RHP
Zach Pettway, UCLA - RHP
Jacob Palisch, STAN - RP
Kevin Abel, OSU - RP
Holden Powell, UCLA - RP
Dellan Raish, ASU - RP
Gage Workman, ASU - 3B
Tim Tawa, STAN - OF

COSIDA All-Academic All-District: The College Sports Information Directors of America announced Google Cloud Academic All-District 8 team honors highlighting 5-of-11 Pac-12 student-athletes.

Jake Bird, UCLA
Collin Maier, WSU
Daniel Rosica, UCLA
Cadyn Grenier, OSU
Jack Anderson, OSU

CONFERENCE STANDINGS (Expanded Standings)

UPCOMING SCHEDULE

2018 PAC-12 PLAYER AND PITCHER OF THE WEEK